What people with normative identities believe about sex, gender and sexual orientation

The present study examined the beliefs of individuals with normative identities regarding sex, gender and sexual orientation. Data were collected from 691 heterosexual cisgender women and men using an online survey. Participants indicated their agreement regarding their beliefs about the nature of sex, gender and sexual orientation along four dimensions: fixed, binary (i.e. essentialist beliefs), fluid and continuous (i.e. social constructionist beliefs). Data analyses for the present study centred on four 2 (Participant Gender Identity: Woman vs. Man) × 3 (Identity Construct: Sex vs. Gender vs. Sexual Orientation) mixed ANOVAs. Findings suggested that sex, gender and sexual orientation are understood to be distinct and that essentialist and constructionist beliefs follow reverse patterns. Heterosexual cisgender adults rated sex as the most fixed and binary, followed by gender, and then sexual orientation. Conversely, participants rated sexual orientation as the most fluid and continuous followed by gender, and sex. Men consistently rated all three constructs as more fixed and binary and less fluid and continuous than did women. Discussion focuses on the utility of investigating normative beliefs about sex, gender and sexual orientation as parallel constructs.